Meanwhile, an increasing number of studies have linked high-potency THC to psychosis. A Danish study found that 20% of schizophrenia cases might be prevented if young men (ages 16 to 25) did not develop cannabis use disorder, or CUD. The likelihood of developing CUD is significantly higher when people use high-potency concentrates, according to that 2023 study. Dr. Alexis Ball at Seattle Children’s was the lead author of a study that looked at more than 106,000 substance-related emergency room visits by young people between the ages of 12 and 21 at pediatric hospitals across the U.S. between 2016 and 2021. Cannabis not only accounted for the majority of visits during that five-year span (at 52%), but cannabis-related visits also increased the most during the study, jumping by more than 80%. The report concludes that “THC content of cannabis products contributes to adverse health effects in a dose-response manner.” In other words, the higher the potency, the more likely users are to get sick from or addicted to weed.
A painful trade: Swapping wine for THC landed her in the ER and sick for months
Paradoxically, CHS causes excessive vomiting and is related to long-term marijuana use. Understanding what CHS is, can help us better understand why the syndrome affects some people the way it does. For years, marijuana has been used recreationally and medically to treat chronic pain and nausea, but for some, it causes the opposite, which is why the condition is sometimes misdiagnosed. CHS is a rare illness that comes as a result of chronic and prolonged usage of cannabis. Symptoms of CHS include extreme vomiting, nausea, dehydration, stomach pain and death in rare cases. Doctors have reported rising cases of a rare but fatal condition linked to significant marijuana use, which causes intense vomiting, dehydration and Sober living house abdominal pain.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of Pathophysiology
- This report recounts the case of an adolescent girl with symptoms similar to those of her previous episodes of tetrahydrocannabinol-induced hyperemesis, despite a 21-kg weight loss over 6 months.
- It’s a condition that can lead to serious health complications if you don’t get treatment for it.
- Despite the appropriate statistical methods used in the study conducted by Wagner et al. 24, the subgroup analysis presented a serious risk of bias due to a small sample that may contain unbalanced prognostic factors.
- Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) involves episodic cyclic vomiting that occurs in some cannabis users.
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Treat Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome at Sanctuary Treatment Center Today
Even after months of cannabis abstinence, CHS can return with a vengeance if the patient resumes usage. British physicians have recorded one case of a young man who presented with CHS and renal failure, and he admitted to smoking marijuana 4-6 times a day for 15 years and took hot showers a day. After treatment, followed by psychiatric support, he remained free of CHS symptoms after three cannabis-free years (as of July 2019). The serum levels of psychiatric drugs may be reduced in patients suffering from CHS or other vomiting syndrome. A vicious cycle can occur in which CHS patients taking psychiatric medications suffer nausea and vomiting, increase their use of marijuana to manage those symptoms, and exacerbate their mental health condition.
The problem is recognizing it, accepting it, and getting sufferers the help that they need. Don’t think it can’t happen to kids just because it takes years to manifest. The young man mentioned earlier whose mother wrote so eloquently wrote about his death was 17. If not treated, CHS can cause muscle what is chs weed spasms, weakness, kidney failure, heart problems, shock, brain swelling, and death. In some cases, lorazepam may be helpful to counteract the anxiety suffered by the patient, but lorazepam as treatment for CHS is generally not effective 116. On her dresser sits a dark urn emblazoned with a gold marijuana leaf that contain’s Brian’s ashes.
In a report on a 16-year-old CHS patient, she reported that she used marijuana herself but had been exposed prior to that to secondhand smoke for many years, as her family used marijuana 125. Chronic or excessive use of cannabinoids may also stimulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system in addition to disrupting the endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system plays a role in allostasis of the autonomic nervous system following episodes of stress 55. The HPA axis is the main neuroendocrine system activated by the body when confronting stress 56. In a healthy individual, the stress response results in the release of corticotrophin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus into the capillaries and going to the pituitary gland.
He achieved symptomatic relief by using a heating pad on his abdomen throughout the day and experienced about 20 min of relief by showering with hot water, which he did 3 to 12 times daily. At this point, staff in the treatment centre diagnosed CHS, on the basis of presentation and the exclusion of other diagnoses. The patient’s observed “excessive” showering was related to “self-treatment” and not to any psychotic disorder or symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.2 He had full resolution of symptoms after about 10 days. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome has developed from a rare and often misdiagnosed curiosity into a common presenting complaint at emergency departments, particularly in North America. The rest of the world is not far behind given the profusion of high potency herbal cannabis, its extracts and synthetic cannabinoids, the latter arising as a byproduct of prohibition.
Recurring symptoms
She had not gained substantial weight by 1 week after hospital discharge, and she reported continued nausea with no emesis. At a gastroenterology consultation 7 months after discharge, she had improvement of symptoms, although early satiety remained. Surgical consultation was not sought by the patient, and it remains unclear whether she continued to use cannabis upon symptom relief.
Treatment
Case reports from SE Asia of neem ingestion in children note hepatic lipid deposition, seizures, and sedation. Based on chronic administration of azadirachtin to rats, a non-toxic dose for human consumption was calculated to be 0.014 g/kg body weight (Boeke et al., 2004) or 0.98 g for a 70 kg human. The authors stated, “—the toxic effects of neem oil are unlikely to be caused by its azadirachtin content.” p. 35. The estimated safe daily dose for unprocessed neem material was 0.25 mg/kg BW or 17.5 mg for a 70 kg human.
Since these symptoms can cause dehydration, in rare uncontrolled cases it can even lead to death from kidney failure. Because so little is known about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome and its causes, few treatment approaches have been developed. If you are experiencing symptoms of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, the most common advice is to stop using cannabis and see if your symptoms resolve in the following days, weeks, or months. This seems to be the most effective way to completely resolve symptoms.
